Tag: Tony Ferguson

UFC Fight Night 112 saw some major controversy in the main event. The fight between Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee was anticipated to be a high stakes game between two fighters hoping to enter title contention with a win Sunday night. But instead of everyone speaking on how great the main event was, everyone is talking about Mario Yamasaki’s supposed “flub.”

A ton of people have been speaking their mind on the fact that the co-main event of UFC 209, Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Tony Ferguson, should be the main attraction of the show. Whether or not you agree with that point, the truth of the matter is that this fight is certainly one for the ages as both men have looked nigh invincible during their UFC tenure. What’s more, one of these men will have to experience the bitter taste of defeat as they head for a collision course that could be one of the greatest lightweight scraps in the sport’s history.

UFC Fight Night 98 showcased just how incredibly competitive the lightweight division truly is. You’d be hard pressed to find a UFC lightweight capable of winning five in a row. You’re even less likely to find a lightweight fighter capable of having a nine fight win streak. Yet Tony Ferguson was able to accomplish exactly that, making him one of the greatest lightweights in the division. After his victory over Rafael dos Anjos this past Saturday night, Ferguson secured his name amongst the greatest fighters in lightweight history. So was it really smart of him not to call for a title shot after his victory?

So the time has finally come. The biggest event of the year, in UFC history is just right around the corner. As in next weekend. This weekend however is a bit of a primer for what’s to come at UFC 205 on November 12. While it may not sport the craziest line up out there, [...]

When most individuals think about mixed martial arts as a sport no doubt they sum the style up as a mixture of muay thai, wrestling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Now that isn’t entirely too far off as most people who enter the sport come from one of those particular backgrounds. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in other combat arts. To think that there’s only one formula to getting things done in MMA would be pretty foolhardy.

In a sport as wild and unpredictable as MMA often is, perhaps it’s fitting that, less than a week after the “biggest card in UFC history” left us feeling cold and mostly underwhelmed, a humble, under-the-radar, and most importantly free card like Fight Night 91 would come along and collectively blow our goddamn socks off. It even finished wrapping up before midnight, if you can believe it!

What Fight Night 91 may have lacked in star power, it more than made up for in just excellent displays of guys and girls punching each other in the face. In the main event of the evening, devastating face-puncher John Lineker took on the similarly hard-hitting Michael McDonald in a bantamweight contest, and the result was right up there with Lineker’s battle against Francisco Rivera in terms of just how much face was punched inside the span of three minutes.

The Great Injury Curse of 2016 — henceforth to be known and referred to as the #PotatoCurse by *all* MMA media entities — got off to a promising start last week, claiming Daniel Cormier just weeks out from his highly-anticipated title fight rematch with uber rival Jon Jones. Last night, the #PotatoCurse claimed its second victim in the form of lightweight Tony Ferguson, forcing him out of his #1 contender bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov and destroying the second straight UFC main event in as many weeks.

While Fight Night 71 may have been a bit of a comedown from the high that last weekend’s cards provided, with 9 of the 12 scheduled fights going the distance, it managed to deliver yet another “Knockout of the Year”-worthy finish in it’s main event, which was probably the craziest sub-one and a half minute fight since Cerrone vs. Guillard.

Both Frank Mir and Todd Duffee came out throwin’ them bungalows early, but it was evident from the start that Mir was enjoying a significant speed advantage over his much younger opponent. Duffee was quite literally lunging into his punches, leaving himself exposed for big counters, and found one just over a minute into the fight in the form of a VICIOUS left hand. Though Mir would declare that “his emotions got the best of him” in his post-fight interview, there’s no arguing with the results.

Mir is now 2-0 since dropping 4 straight between 2012 and 2014. Andrei Arlovski has won three straight in the UFC. Cro Cop just beat the sh*t out of Gabe Gonzaga. Fedor is returning, and oh yeah, Fabricio Werdum is the champ. I think it’s safe to declare 2015 as the year of, as one redditor put it, “The Old School Heavyweight.”

FOX Sports released some highlight videos from Saturday’s UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler 2 event, and as usual, the clips from the main card fights are woefully incomplete, showing everything but the actual finishes. So eff ‘em — we’ve buried those after the jump. Luckily, the highlight clips from the FOX Sports 1 prelim fights actually showed the money shots.

Below, Urijah Faber picks up yet another submission victory in a non-title fight, though this one came with some controversy. In the slow-motion replay at the 0:30 mark, you can see Faber basically fish-hook Francisco Rivera’s eye-socket. (Two fouls in one!) Rivera goes down in agony, and Faber bulldog chokes him. But referee Mario Yamasaki didn’t see the foul, and it goes down as a legitimate win for Faber. Rivera plans to appeal the result.

After the jump: Highlights from four UFC 181 main card fights. They left out Todd Duffee‘s KO of Anthony Hamilton because the fight was so short they’d pretty much have to show the finish, and God knows we can’t have that.